(un)Common Grounds: Reflecting on documenta fifteen

(un)Common Grounds is a two-day hybrid forum co-organised by Framer Framed, Akademie van Kunsten (Society of Arts) and the Van Abbemuseum. The forum gathers a network of thinker-speakers to discuss the issues raised during the 100 days of documenta fifteen in Kassel, Germany. Together with artists and collectives from documenta fifteen as well as museum practitioners, cultural historians and activists, we share and learn from different perspectives, experiences and observations of the exhibition. 

Contributors and Collectives: Ade Darmawan, Alexander Supartono, Benjamin Seroussi, Charles Esche, Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes, David Duindam, Esther Captain, Eyal Weizman, Fernando Garcia Dory, Florian Cramer, Gertrude Flentge, Grace Leksana, INLAND, Jonas Staal, Kerstin Winking, Lara Khaldi, Layal Ftouni, Maissan Hassan, Mitchell Esajas, Mirjam Shatanawi, Mohanad Yaqubi, The Black Archives, The Question of Funding, ruangrupa, Reem Shilah, Subversive Film, Taring Padi, Wayne Modest, Yazan Khalili, Yolande Zola Zoli van der Heide, Zippora Elders, THE PALACE OF FLOWING WATER.

While the forum is largely inspired by the exhibition, the topics to be discussed relate to far wider issues affecting people and communities all over the world. These issues are interlaced with contemporary forms of racism, colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchal structures. The forum wishes to act both as a conceptual space to think through debates raised during the exhibition period, and a platform carrying on the lumbung spirit — to continue with open conversations on “how to learn, share, and live together with people from different yet interconnected cosmologies.”[1]

The two-day forum will take place at Framer Framed and Akademie van Kunsten (Society of Arts) at the Trippenhuis, Amsterdam, and consist of four panels, a screening program, and an open conversation with participants online and in person. The forum will be in English. Onsite registrations are fully booked. See bellow for programme schedule and details to participate online.

Day 1 programme schedule
Friday, September 23, 1–10pm (CET)
Location: Framer Framed

YouTube livestream / Register here to join and interact online

1–1:30pm: Welcome and introduction
1:30–3:10pm: Politics of Memory in a Changing State: documenta fifteen, Colonial Legacies and Entangled Histories
3:10–3:30pm: Intermission: The Politics of the Mixer
3:30–3:50pm: Break
3:50–5:50pm: Lost in Translation: Discussing Art’s Place in a Polarised Public Discourse
7–9pm: Film screening (onsite only)
post documenta fifteen—Tokyo Reels: fragments 
9–10pm Jamming (onsite only)

Day 2 programme schedule
Saturday, September 24, 1–6pm (CET)
Location: the Trippenhuis, KNAW

YouTube livestream / Register here to join and interact online

1–1:20: Welcome and opening talk 
1:20–3pm: (re)Claiming Identities: Shaping and Framing Archives in an Institutional Context
3–3:20pm: Break
3:20–5pm: Other Ways of documenta-ing: Democracy, Inclusion, and Decolonised Models of Art
5–6pm: Reflection and open conversation

More information about the forum can be found here. 

[1] From the statement issued by Ade Darmawan in the Committee on Culture and Media, German Bundestag, July 6, 2022. 

(un)Common Grounds: Reflecting on documenta fifteen is co-organised by Framer Framed, Akademie van Kunsten (Society of Arts), and the Van Abbemuseum. 

The programme is realised with the generous support of the University of Amsterdam, namely: Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES), Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis (ASCA) and Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture (AHM).